The plastic wrap on the door prank is an easy prank to pull off and doesn’t require much preparation. You put plastic wrap across a door-frame and anyone who tries to walk through it will be bounced back by the plastic wrap. This prank is hilarious and harmless and will leave everyone in the room laughing. If you’re the type of person who loves pranks and needs a new one to add to their repertoire, the plastic wrap on the door prank is one you should try.

Steps

Part 1

Preparing the Prank

1

Unravel the plastic wrap and cut pieces longer than the width of your door. The plastic wrap needs to stretch to each side of the door. You can use measuring tape to measure the width of your door-frame, then cut pieces of plastic wrap 5-6 inches longer than your door’s width. You should cut anywhere from 7-15 pieces for this prank.

Do not fold or get wrinkles in the wrap as you cut it.

To get a cleaner cut, use a pair of scissors.

2

Choose a regularly used doorway. You don’t want to tip them off to the prank early, so make sure that the prankee is used to going through the door you choose so nothing seems suspicious. Don’t use the front door, kitchen door or bathroom door because someone else may need to use it, and make sure that the other people in your house know you’re pulling off the prank.

Keep the door open when you do the prank.

Really wide door-frames are not the best for this prank because you’ll need to use more plastic wrap.

Don’t put the plastic wrap at foot height, or you’ll just cause the person to trip and fall.

3

Tape one side of the plastic wrap to the side of the door-frame. Tape the short end of the plastic wrap to one side of the door-frame while making sure that you’re not wrinkling it in the process. Line up the plastic wrap so that it is at chest height of the person you’re pranking.

Make sure that the tape is on the opposite side of the door, so that the prankee won’t be able to see it as he approaches the door frame.

Some people like to put the plastic wrap at face height, but this could be dangerous.[1]

4

Stretch the plastic wrap from one side of the door frame to the other. Make sure the plastic wrap is taut as you do this. Once you make sure there are no visual wrinkles or folds, tape the other end of your plastic wrap to the opposite side of the door frame. It's very important that the plastic wrap appears to be transparent, so do it in a doorway that has low lighting and no reflective surfaces.

Wrinkles in the plastic wrap will tip off the prankee and they will most likely not walk through it.

5

Repeat until the plastic wrap barrier is at least two feet in height. You need to keep applying layers of wrap one over the other, so that way the prankee doesn’t just walk through the prank but actually bounces off the plastic wrap.

Make sure that it’s sturdy enough by pressing on the plastic wrap barrier with your hand.

You can make the barrier larger than two feet, but don’t go under two feet tall or else it may not have the desired effect.

Part 2

Convincing Your Victim

1

Choose a person who can take a joke. Being strategic with the person you're pranking is crucial in having a good prank. The idea is that it should be fun for all parties involved, even for the person who’s being pranked. While they might be a bit embarrassed, it’s not meant to hurt their feelings or make them mad.

The best prank is when everyone laughs together at the end.

Make sure the person you’re pranking doesn’t have a bad temper.

2

Select someone who’s gullible, absentminded, or has bad eyesight. It will be easier to pull off the prank if the person is gullible or doesn’t typically notice things. It's also easy to pull this prank off on someone with bad eyesight because they are less likely to spot the plastic wrap. This prank is funniest when the person has no idea that it’s about to happen.

Don’t select someone who pays attention to detail, or is usually skeptical of you.

Try to select someone who you haven’t pranked before, because they're more likely to fall for the prank if they think it’s coming from a credible source.[2]

3

Divert the person's attention and call them over. To get the person to fall for the prank, allure them through the doorway with their favorite candy, or a funny video on your computer. If you really want to be sneaky, you can tell them it’s urgent so they rush over, and run into the plastic wrap barrier. You don't want them to think about the potential for the prank, so figuring out a way to make them rush is the best way to do this prank.

Don’t laugh or you may give away your prank. An obvious tell is over excitement or laughter before you execute the prank.

If your friend is starting to catch on, change the conversation to misdirect their attention.

4

Prepare to make it up to the person you're pranking. Some people take jokes better than others. If the person is upset after you prank them, take them out to get ice cream, or do something nice for them. The nice thing about this prank is no one gets hurt, but the person you're pranking may be mad.

Make sure to calm the person down and tell them it was just a joke if they are visibly angry.

Prepare for retaliation pranks if you're pranking a friend or sibling.

Community Q&A

What if my brother does this to me? How can I tell if he is pranking me or not?

wikiHow Contributor

Well, it depends. Does he usually pull pranks on you? Is he giving obvious visual clues (laughing, snickering, etc.) that something's up? Are you noticing something strange? If the answer's no, then it would be hard to tell.

"I am probably using this to a more evil extent than what is encouraged here. I have siblings who love to use a door. I hate it when they use it. They have no idea this prank exists. So they're gonna get a shock. "..." more